OTL Blog

Yesterday, the OTL phone got a very interesting missed call.  The caller ID said Time2Ad. This is the company responsible for the giant scaffolding wrap billboard on the corner of St-Laurent and Sherbrooke Street, so it’s quite surprising that they would be calling us.  Maybe it was to apologize for violating the historic status of the Main, a protected site – we could only hope.  Today, we got our answer.

Time2Ad called back, this time from a blocked number.  Once they established that they were indeed speaking with a member of the collective responsible for this blog, the phone was passed to someone identified to us as Matthew Alzubi, president of the company.

Alzubi said that we have until midnight tonight to remove this post dealing with what Time2Ad did on the Main or else face legal consequences.  Just what consequences may arise over a post that states facts and gives voice to people opposed to the cultural effects a company’s project has in their opinion is unclear at best.

This might explain why Mr. Alzubi merely repeated his statement about midnight tonight and added that we didn’t know what he was capable of “so help me God” when asked to send what he was saying in written form.  That could also explain why no one left a message when they called our phone yesterday.

Maybe they don’t want any record of what Time2Ad and Matthew Alzubi said to us to exist.  Maybe they know that we have a right to freedom of speech and any court that looked at their case against us would throw it out.  Maybe they thought they could scare us with some tough talk.  Sadly for them, they can’t.  Sadly for Montreal, it looks like Time2Ad still plan to put up more scaffolding wrap billboards.

Montreal’s “Quartier des Spectacles” project is proceeding at a fast clip. The neighbourhood is currently undergoing major transformations as new parks are laid out, a state-of-the-art concert hall goes up, and select buildings are appropriated and destroyed to make way for “development”. Designed to transform Montreal’s old red light district and environs into a less-seedy destination for those seeking spectacles of theatre, music, dance, and other performances, the project is attracting more and more controversy.

For reasons unexplained, developers have been busy trying to raze existing authentic performance venues in the area, despite their historical value and ongoing use by various artists and spectators. The storied Spectrum concert hall was unceremoniously demolished to make way for a box store, and now developers are threatening to appropriate and raze the Café Cleopatra, a burlesque venue that should probably be a heritage site by now, and Katacombes, an activist co-op spectacle hall. That St. Laurent boulevard is a historic site where “intrusive elements must be minimal” has not deterred a so-called French “starchitect” from drawing up plans to construct a gigantic 12-story glass office tower called the Quadrilatère Saint-Laurent on the footprint of the destroyed venues, which would only have their facades preserved.

The irony that the “Quartier des Spectacles” project is destroying real spectacle venues and replacing them with office towers is not lost on local artists or residents. Now the very artists who create the spectacles from which the Quartier takes its name are raising their voices in dissent. Many are demanding that developers respect existing venues and stop their plan to destroy local culture and heritage. The Coalition des Artistes du Cabaret Cleo has issued a RED ALERT! and is mobilizing. They are hoping to “integrate the creative spirit of the last 5 years at Cabaret Cleo’s within a constructive, honest and positive plan to revitalize Montreal’s legendary Main,” and have prepared a petition, which you can read and sign here.

You can sign the petition Saturday June 6th starting a 8pm on the occasion of a “Friends of Cabaret Cleo” rally event (1230 St-Laurent, 2nd floor). There will be a lively evening of performances, lectures and cultural resistance, so join in and add your voice to the chorus of diasapproval. Velma Candyass of the Dead Dolls Dancers, frequent performers at the threatened venue, asks:

“How is a 12 story office tower part of the Quartier des Spectacles? As alternative artists we were looking forward to learning about the proposed revitalization plans for the Quartier des Spectacles. However by eliminating the 2nd floor show bar, a vital venue for local alternative artists in the proposed plans does not endear us to the proposed ideas. They wish to have ‘ethical business’ such as ‘ethical flower shops’ ‘quebec artisinal soaps ‘ or or chic bistros. somehow neo vaudeville, neo burlesque and cheap hotdogs do not fit their image of things to be. Cleo is a special venue that has supported and mentored alternative artists. The stage setup is quite unique as it is the only cabaret style setup here in montreal. We simply wish to continue doing our shows and to be included in the Quartier des Spectacles.”

On Tuesday June 9th the Coalition will deliver a lecture of memorandums and a presentation of their petition at the final Public Consultation on the project, to be held at the ballroom of Hôtel Holiday Inn Select, 99 Viger ave. W. (corner St-Urbain), Place-d’Armes metro. The petition will be presented to Société de développement Angus (SDA), officials of the Ville de Montréal as well as the Office de consultation publique de Montréal (OCPM) and Conseil du Patrimoine de Montréal.

Now is the time to support the real Montreal artists and the real Montreal culture. Destroying authentic and storied performance venues in a Historic Site should be illegal. To destroy them in a “Quartier des Spectacles” makes no sense whatsoever. If anything, they should receive protected designation for their authenticity. The idea of bringing in a French “Starchitect” to destroy Montreal culture is utterly appalling, and the notion that a 12-story office tower belongs in a Historic Site suggests that the “Starchitect” is misguided. The tough-guy tactics of threatening appropriation demonstrate once again that Mayor Tremblay is ignoring artists, heritage activists, and business owners in his attempt to push through yet another ill-conceived project. The “Quartier des Spectacles” has a history of kicking out artists who express themsevles in alternative ways, and with an election coming up in November, now is the time to voice your opposition to these disrespectful and counterproductive plans. Sign the petition, and join the artists of Café Cleo in demanding protection for our culture!

Today is the beginning of “MainFest”, a 3 day “street fair” on St. Laurent Boulevard, or “The Main” Historic site. The boulevard will be completely closed to traffic and is expected to receive an estimated 300 000 visitors. According to The Société de développement du boulevard Saint-Laurent (SDBSL), organizers of “MainFest” and other “street fairs”:

“With summer on the way, everyone’s invited to come to Saint-Laurent Boulevard and check out the action. MainFest is the perfect occasion for the public to enjoy Saint-Laurent Boulevard‘s great terrasses and discover the hot new summer trends in fashion, decor and music. It’s time to put those tuques and boots away for the season and revel in the warm weather! MainFest will be serving up a fabulous cocktail of beauty, fitness, sports, and music sessions that will appeal to all our visitors.”

Known for its capitalist approach and corporate connections, the SDBSL even promotes “guerrilla marketing” in the historic site where, according to the Canadian government at least, “intrusive elements must be minimal“. In the past the SDBSL has sold out the historic site to corporate interests on many occasions, including to unethical sponsors such as PartyPoker.Net, which prompted local citizens, heritage activists and culture-jammers to launch a campaign to Reclaim The Main!

Culture wars on the street are starting to heat up, and as the “MainFest” sets up shop, signs of corporate interference are already all over the place.

This beer company/sponsor, which has a mobile “DJ Booth” has co-opted anarchist colours (black and red) and revolutionary imagery to sell its brand of suds. Furthermore, a security force including private guards and police officers is enforcing “rules” in the corporate zone, while not actually following them themselves. For example, cycling is apparently prohibited.

However, this regulation did not stop police officers from zipping through the crowd on their bikes, even blowing red lights, all the while warning others to dismount their bikes or face a ticket.

Faced with such hipocrisy, on the other side of the equation activists are working with culture-jammers on a movie documenting the corporate takeover of the historic site. Guerrilla Video Productions, Optative Theatrical Laboratories, and others are demanding change and inviting resisters to participate and Reclaim the Main. Contact optatif@gmail.com to get involved.

The next street “event” organized by the SDBSL is called “Club Main”, and runs June 18–21, 2009:

“We can’t bring Saint-Laurent to the beach, so we’re bringing the beach to Saint-Laurent! Everyone is invited to join the fun at Club Main, Montreal‘s one-of-a-kind urban beach, where partying is the name of the game. No need to travel halfway round the world to soak up that holiday atmosphere. It will all be right here! Visitors will be able to stroll around, laze in the sun or underneath a palm tree, enjoy beach sports, volleyball, and Wake dans’rue, watch the performers, and in the evening, party under the stars!”

While corporate sponsorship deals have not been announced yet, the closure of “The Main” coincides with the opening of the Montreal infringement festival.

One act that is sure to participate in culture-jamming the corporate spam is the ninth edition of Montreal‘s “longest-running theatre experiment”, Car Stories. Optative Theatrical Laboratories is seeking volunteers to participate and get involved. The show runs from June 19 – 21 during the street closure, and is open to all interested players. Interested players will bring it to the fifth annual Buffalo infringement festival in late July. The next meeting is Tuesday June 2 at 6pm at the Bifteck (3702 St. Laurent). All are welcome!

So get on down to “The Main” and witness the corporate SDBSL events theatrically clashing with heritage activism, concerned citizens, culture-jammers, and those demanding the protection of the historic site. Better yet, join in the action and help usher in a new era where people take precedence over corporations!

It looks like ripping up the ground to create open pit mines in places like Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala just isn’t enough for some Canadian mining companies: RoyalOr has gone local!  The Johannesburg, South Africa-registered organization has plans to turn Mount Royal into an open-pit mine.

“People always talk about buying local food and local produce,” argued RoyalOr CEO and director Alonse Barbe to people on the mountain yesterday, “so why are we taking our gold all the way from Mexico when we could be taking it here from Mount Royal?”

anticipated pit scope for the Mount Royal project

Barbe cited the activities of his firm and other Canadian mining companies in communities around the world and the lack of reaction in Canada as an example of Canadians’ acceptance of the practice of open-pit mining.  He also hopes that protests against and opposition to RoyalOr’s plans can be quashed in a similar manner to how dissent is dealt with in the developing world: through bribery of officials and silence in the media.

The RoyalOr plan involves digging up an area which goes from around Dawson College to St-Urbain Street on the Plateau.  This would gut most of the mountain and also prompt the forced relocation of residents, many of them currently living in Upper Westmount.  Barbe hopes that the company’s generous offer of moving everyone affected to places like Longueil and Laval for free will help to offset potentially litigious opposition.

There is also oppositon brewing against the project by community organization and citizens in general.  It has also started generating buzz in the media, with articles appearing in the Montreal Mirror and Rue Frontenac.

It was with this in mind that Barbe and a team of surveyors, geologists and marketers went to the weekly Tam Tams celebration on the mountain yesterday to explain their project to members of the community.  They were met with some skepticism, but support as well.  Here is a video of some of what happened:

Representatives of RoyalOr will make their claim official today as they hammer in the last stake as part of a press conference.  You are invited to join them at 1:30pm by the gazebo.

Forum Theatre, Image Theatre, Invisible Theatre and Legislative Theatre along with others form a tree of theatre forms known as Theatre of the Oppressed.  All were created by Brazilian theatre theorist, writer and director Augusto Boal who passed away Saturday at the age of 78.

Boal is best-known for creating theatre techniques that allowed and encouraged rebellion and change to come from the oppressed groups themselves after he realized that didactic politically-motivated theatre was limited in how it could help those in the poor areas where he worked.

His teachings caught the attention of Brazil’s military dictatorship and they arrested and tortured Boal, eventually exiling him to Argentina where he wrote and published his first book, Theatre of the Oppressed, in 1973.  For the next twelve years, he went around Europe teaching and establishing Theatres of the Oppressed.

When the dictatorship fell, he returned to Rio de Janeiro and established a major Center for the Theater of the Oppressed (CTO Rio).  He also held public office as a city councilor for one term (1993-1997) where he created Legislative Theatre.

Boal has inspired people around the world, both theatre artists and not.  He also inspired us here at OTL in our own application of his techniques.  Augusto Boal leaves behind a legacy of empowerment and a new, revolutionary way of looking at theatre and what it can do to help those who need it most.

Today is May 1st, recognized in many places around the world as International Workers Day.  It traces its roots back to May 1st, 1886, when workers demanding an 8-hour work day walked out en-masse.  The police crackdown at the McCormick Reaper Works in Chicago two days later led to the Haymarket affair in where eight anarchists were eventually convicted of murder in a show trial.  Four of them were hung to death.

In Montreal, there is a long history of protest and artistic activism on May Day.  Sadly, there is also a history of police repression.  In 2008, for example, police cracked down on a mostly peaceful anti-capitalist march moments after it began.

This year’s march happens in the shadow of that event and also just a few months after the anti-police brutality march which ended, unfortunately, in police brutality and rioting.  Nonetheless, the march will begin today at 5:30pm in Cabot Square, leaving at 6:30pm for the Caisse des depots et placements in Old Montreal.

May Day also kicks off the Festival of Anarchy which now includes a theatre festival, arts exhibits, workshops, a squat (more on this in a few week) and of course the Anarchist Bookfair.  The festival lasts until May 31st.

Stella, the sex workers advocacy group, is hoping that workers’ rights will someday be extended to sex workers as well and in hopes of making this happen, they will be launching the latest edition of their ConStellation magazine tonight at Academy, 4445 St-Laurent, as part of a party thrown by Cirque de Boudoir.   The event starts at 9pm, costs $15 at the door (free for sex workers) and features DJ Frigid, Plastik Patrik and the Dead Doll dancers.

Over the past few years, the Immigrant Workers’ Centre in Cote-des-Neiges has hosted MayWorks an artistic celebration of workers’ rights.  This year is no different, except that the event will happen a week later on Saturday, May 9th starting at 5:30pm.

It took a while, but the federal government finally seems ready to invest a bit of money in the Quebec arts scene.  In fact, the department of Canadian Heritage is giving $4,222,861 to Montreal organizations like the National Theatre School, Les Grands ballets canadiens de Montréal and The Leanor and Alvin Segal Theatre.  They are doing so through the Endowment Incentives component of the Canadian Arts and Heritage Sustainability Program.

The National Theatre school is scheduled to receive funding

Arts funding, particularly in Quebec, is always a welcome thing.  The industry employs quite a few people here as the Conservatives found out when cuts to funding may just have cost them their majority government last election.  It’s also a good thing considering having any type of job is becoming a rarity these days.

Does this mean that the government has changed its tune towards the arts?  Or could this be the continuation of a pattern that they started this past February when they replaced the Trade Routes program that helps Canadian artists travel abroad with an “Arts Prize” to be given out to artists from around the world by the people behind Toronto’s corporate-funded Luminato Festival.  This pro-corporate model was also apparent when the government refused to give extra funding to the CBC and instead considered bailing out CanWest Global.

Could that be what’s happening here?  Well, these investments aren’t donations to arts organizations in a vacuum.  The funds are to match donations by individuals, companies and community groups.  In fact, in its press release, the government claims that “this initiative complements other measures taken by our Government to encourage private-sector participation in arts funding.”

This is not new investment in artists that don’t have funding to begin with.  While it’s certainly a good thing that Harper’s government wants to “ensure that these organizations continue to enrich our lives for many years to come,” the fact that it took so long to get to this point could mean that it may take even longer for new artists that don’t have backing already to get some startup cash.

When someone or a group of people is doing art that challenges our corporate culture or even the capitalist system in general, government funding is usually the only outlet for them to be able to survive and do their work without changing it.  Now that the government is playing politics with culture and insisting on a public/private model instead of funding the arts out of obligation to our culture, then what chance will underground artists have in the future?

In 1971, Augusto Boal started what he called Newspaper Theatre to theatrically deal with current social issues in Brazil.  The concept soon blossomed into a tree of theatrical techniques including Forum Theatre and Image Theatre called Theatre of the Oppressed.  The concept soon spread to other countries in South America and eventually around the world.

Inspired by this model, Canadian teacher Jessica Bleuer hopes to use this model to help people with theatre skills supplement their salaries by finding non-theatre gigs while creating meaningful social changes in their communities.  In this vein, she is giving an intensive workshop called Making Theatre Work For Change this weekend in Montreal.

She has been offering this concept as a course to students at the University of Toronto since 2004 and has facilitated theatre for change workshops in various community centres, high schools, universities and peace camps around the world including places like Northern Ireland, South Korea and Argentina.

She hopes to show how theatre-of-the-oppressed techniques and narrative theatre skills can be used to educate, create public awareness or public dialogue on various issues, mediate conflict and create meaningful social change.

This weekend’s Montreal edition costs $150 to participate and runs tonight from 6-9pm, tomorrow from 10am to 5pm and Sunday from 9am to 1pm with an optional showcasing of skills from 5:30-9pm.  Please contact jessicableuer@gmail.com to get involved.

The Reverend Kevin Annett knows what it’s like to be under the microscope.

He was kicked out of the United Church for speaking out against what happened to native people in Canada’s residential school system. When it became apparent that he wouldn’t be silent and do what he was told, they made things very difficult for him. Despite the breakup of his marriage and being denied a degree among other things, he persisted, bringing survivors of the schools all the way to the United Nations.

The movie Unrepentant juxtaposes Annett’s story with that of residential schools and the genocide native people endured through this system.   He now hosts a weekly radio show called Hidden From History which first went on the air in 2001 and runs a website with the same name that spreads the word about the struggle for acknowledgment of what happened in the past as well as what is going on right now.

Some of those posts have caught the attention of the RCMP, not only for exposing the force’s complicity in past wrongs such as removing native children from their families on gunboats and taking them to the residential schools where many died but more importantly for allegations of RCMP involvement in the disappearance of indigenous women from Vancouver’s downtown east side.

In 2006, he published six eyewitness statements claiming government, police and church involvement with pedophile rings, child pornography and snuff films. Annett sent copies of the statements to various police and government agencies and received no response until last week.

Reverend Kevin Annett in a scene from Unrepentant

He got an e-mail from RCMP Corporal Sabrina Mill who wants to meet with him and discuss the allegations and other postings. Annett wants to make this meeting a public one.

He has invited Cpl. Mill to take part in “an open forum on the issue of police and RCMP complicity in the disappearance and death of aboriginal people, including in the Indian residential school system.”

She has not responded yet, so Annett has started an online petition asking her to take part in a public meeting, you can sign it here.  Here is a trailer for Unrepentant:

While many films, along with entertainment in general, have been known to desensitize people to violence, the Bloc Quebecois hope to use the medium to sensitize Members of Parliament from all parties to the magnitude of tragedies like the massacre of 14 women by Marc Lepine at Ä–cole Polytechnique in Montreal in 1989.

This event, now known as the Montreal Massacre, was what got the ball rolling on talk of stricter gun restrictions in Canada which eventually led to the creation of the Federal Gun Registry.  The Conservative government wants to eliminate the registry and currently have two bills under review that would see it scrapped completely.  They are hoping that some Liberal and NDP MPs will side with them.

In order to turn the tide and stress the importance of gun control, the Bloc Quebecois will screen Denis Villeneuve’s film Polytechnique on Parliament Hill tomorrow night.  They have invited MPs from all parties to attend.  The movie is a fictional account of the massacre told through the eyes of two students who survived.  In it, Lepine is never referred to by name and actor Maxim Gaudette is listed as playing simply “The Killer” in the credits.

The film did cause controversy when it was released in February with some arguing it shouldn’t be made at all, others claiming that it was not done the right way or for the right reasons and some seeing it as a necessary movie and a force for social change.  Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe clearly sees it the third way and is giving it a chance to be just that with the screening.

NDP leader Jack Layton will attend the screening, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has a “prior engagement” and won’t be there and Stephen Harper’s office won’t say whether he will be there or not, claiming that revealing the Prime Minister’s schedule would be a “security risk.”

One person who will be in attendance is Suzanne Laplante-Edward.  She lost her daughter Anne-Marie Edward in the rampage and was quite vocal pushing for gun regulation.  She will speak to MPs before the film at the invitation of Gilles Duceppe.  She will not, however, watch the movie.